Native Americans are the second front in Mahwah's religious battles

MAHWAH -- The Ramapough Lenape Indian tribe call the patch of land along the Rampo River "Split Rock Sweet Water," a prayer ground where religious ceremonies are held for the roughly 3,700 registered tribe members who live in Mahwah, Ringwood and Hillburn.

But to neighbors in the Polo Club housing association, who pass the site whenever they leave their million-dollar homes, the property is an un-permitted campground.

And to Mahwah officials, Sweet Water is a one giant zoning violation.

It's also the backdrop for a second legal battle in which the township is embroiled where religion and local laws are seemingly at odds.

The discord with the Ramapoughs has landed in Superior Court, where the township is hoping a judge will force the removal of teepees and other structures it says the tribe erected illegally on its land, which is in a conservation zone and flood plain.

A bench trial on the zoning violations is currently before Superior Court Judge Roy F. McGeady.

"While the Ramapough Lenape Nation is trying to make this about religion," Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet said, "this has only and ever been about zoning violations."

"No one has ever questioned their right to practice their religion there," he said.

On a recent visit to the site, a Ramapough, who identifies himself as Owl, stood between a ring of tree stumps, some adorned with masks, and a tent cluttered with camping gear.

The tree stumps make up a Weewiikaan, or prayer circle, where the tribe holds religious ceremonies.

For roughly a year now, the Ramapoughs have been at odds with neighbors and town officials over this 13.6 acre property tucked along the Ramapo River at the base of the wealthy housing enclave.

"They were never really comfortable with us being here," Owl says of the homeowners.

As with the township's other legal entanglement over religion -- namely the Orthodox Jewish community's use of its parks and construction of an eruv on utility poles -- the Ramapough's troubles are being stoked by a vocal minority, their attorney said.

"The township's harassment and discrimination is motivated by undue influence from adjacent wealthy landowners," said Raghu Murthy, of the Eastern Environmental Law Center.

The prayer ground was deeded to the tribe in July 1995 by the developer of the surrounding 5,000-square-foot homes, making the tribe the largest land owner within the development.

Some residents of the Polo Club have even attended ceremonies at the prayer grounds. Others complain that the use of the site has stretched beyond what was agreed to.

A public relations representative for the housing association said the members could not comment on the advice of their attorney. Likewise, Mahwah Township prosecutor Joseph DeMarco did not return calls for comment.

But a letter the tribe's representative shared, which is signed by the homeowners, describes how 20 years of harmony unraveled in the past year.

"Oftentimes there are over 100 people on the property, some camping overnight, creating hardships for the neighborhood and township as a whole as its services are increasingly required to deal with issues at the site," it reads. "Available parking around the site is non-existent. There are significant concerns re: safety, sanitation, waste disposal, water pollution, and noise. Garbage and other debris left by attendees are often not disposed of properly. The only bathroom facilities are port-o-johns brought in at the town's demand."

Daily and weekly zoning violation notices, which began arriving in May after the town filed its lawsuit, continue to be issued to the tribe, at a rate of about $1250 per violation, a Ramapough attorney said.

At the trial, DeMarco presented as witnesses the zoning inspector and zoning officer for Mahwah.

Tribal Chief Dwaine Perry and Charles Elmes, the developer who gave them the land, two tribe supporters, a representative from the UN Treaty Council, someone from the Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and a professional planner have testified on behalf of the Ramapoughs, who have tribal recognition from the state of New Jersey.

"They're using it for prayer and community and cultural assembly," said Murthy, of the Eastern Environmental Law Center. "We're saying it's an acceptable use of the property."

"Owl" was charged last spring, along with Perry, with criminal mischief for allegedly redirecting the lens of a Polo Club security camera.

"This is all part of a pattern of trying to criminalize religious gatherings and speech," Owl said.

Owl, a 49-year-old lawyer who specializes in human rights and environmental issues, talks about water, clean air and the importance of nature to the tribe.

The teepees that dot the prayer ground, Owl said, were put up to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its fight against the Dakota Pipeline.

Some of the teepees have been removed, Owl said. The other tents are used by visitors or people who guard the land.

The fight is an important one, an attorney for the Ramapoughs says, because they are one of the only Indian tribes in the county who have managed to stay on their ancestral homeland.

The site is a sliver of what was once a vast area the Ramapough's called home. It included the current site of the Sheraton Crossroads at the convergence of routes 17 and 287 and where the Rampo College sports fields are located.

The Ramapoughs, according to archeologist Edward Lenik of Wayne, who has written three books on the tribe, have been in the area for 10,000 to 12,000 years.

"They belong there," he said, "not the people in the upscale community. They're newcomers."